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\N OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 



BY 
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HENRY C. VAN SCHAACK 



Reprinted from the Magazine of American History^ Sept. 1878 



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AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 

KINDERHOOK is one of the oldest and most charming villages 
in the State of New York ; being noted for its rural beauty, its 
fine residences, and its pleasant drives. There are beautiful 
prospects also from different points, among which are those of the 
valley of the Kinderhook Creek and of the distant Blue Mountains, as 
the Catskills are there called, from the circumstance that in certain 
states of the intervening atmosphere that pleasing hue is imparted to 
that range of mountains. 

The village was settled by emigrants from Holland more than two 
hundred years ago ; and among the oldest of those first settlers, who are 
still represented there by their descendants, are the Van Schaacks. 
Many interesting memories of past days cling around some of the old 
houses still standing in the village and its immediate vicinity. They bear 
witness in their high pointed gable ends and steep roofs, as well as in 
other respects, to their remote erection, and to the character of their 
early occupants, having been most substantially built in the ancient 
Dutch style, and in some instances with well-burnt brick brought from 
Holland. Chronological evidence of their erection has been perpetu- 
ated in some cases by large iron figures placed in their gables. The 
timbers put into these old buildings are simply marvelous for their great 
number and immense size. Strange as it may appear, it is not incredible 
that some of these timbers were transported from the old country, as it 
is a well-authenticated fact, that at an early period of the Dutch occu- 
pancy, heavy timber was brought over from Holland for the erection of 
church edifices on the well-wooded banks of the Hudson. There were 
no shams or death-traps in the erections of our Holland ancestors. The 
builders were not " a race eight stories high in their pride, but only twelve 
^nches thick in their principles." They did not erect in their days, as is 



2 AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 

now done in some of our cities, such flimsy edifices as give way to 
slight pressure, or such as are liable to tumble down of themselves 
or to be blown down by the wind to the destruction of human hfe. 

Kinderhook village is situated on table land, originally pine clad, 
which abruptly terminates on a portion of its southern border. At this 
abrupt terminus of the plateau, there stood up to a few years ago, one of 
the very oldest Dutch houses in the village ; a portion of which was at an 
early day a fort. It was the old Van Schaack mansion, being the resi- 
dence of Colonel Cornelius Van Schaack, senior, the father of the four 
brothers, Henry, David, Cornelius, Jr., and Peter; and the father-in-law 
of Judge Peter Silvester ; all of whom were men of mark in their day. 
The daughters of Colonel Van Schaack are ancestors, on the female side, 
of the Silvesters, the Wynkoops and the Van Alens of Kinderhook, and 
the Wynkoops of Hudson and Syracuse, as well as of many other 
families existant under various names. 

The venerable mansion, referred to by John Jay in a letter written 
by him to his friend, Peter Van Schaack, in 1778, as "the hospitable 
house on the hill," had a commanding prospect of the rolling country and 
distant hills beyond, with a near and extensive view of the beautiful valley 
of the Kinderhook Creek, and affording glimpses of the stream itself quietly 
^ind gracefully meandering through the meadows and the shrubbery 
on its banks. Sir William Johnson was oft-times a guest in that old man- 
sion ; and a chest of drawers, once belonging to Sir William, was, until 
a few years ago, among its relics. Colonial affairs were here often dis- 
cussed ; and portions of the correspondence of Sir William with Colonel 
Van Schaack, and with Henry Van Schaack, who served under him in 
the " seven years' war," are still preserved. 

Kinderhook having been in the direct line of land travel from New 
York city to Albany and the north and west for two centuries, man}^ 
other celebrities, not only of the English colonial period, but of the 
revolutionary era, and of the new republic as well, have been entertamed 
in this, the oldest of the Van Schaack mansions. "Among its early 
visitors were members of the old families of Holland — Colden, Robinson, 
Cruger, Delancy, Watts, Laight, Walton, Jay, Benson, Bard, Murray, 
Van Rensselaer, Yates, Livingston, Gansevoort and Schuyler. 

During its occupancy by Judge Silvester, in the latter part of the 
last and fore part of the present century, Aaron Burr, then in the height 
of his fame, was also one of its visitors ; but after he had slain Hamilton, 
he ceased to enter its doors, well knowing that his presence would be 
unwelcome to those who had ever been ardent friends and admirers of 



AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 3 

General Hamilton. In passing through Kinderhook after that famous 
duel, Colonel Burr uniformly stopped at the village hotel; and he used 
to send for Judge Silvester's son Francis, who had studied law with him, 
to meet him at the public house. 

The most remarkable members of Colonel Van Schaack's family were 
Henry, the oldest, and Peter, the youngest son. Henry, who died in 
Kinderhook in 1823, in the ninety -first year of his age, was notable for 
native talent, sagacity, bravery and enterprise. He was for many years 
previous to the revolution engaged in the fur and peltry trade, and 
extended his operations in that line to Detroit and Mackinaw, previous 
to the Pontiac war. He was in official station under the Crown and 
Province of New York for twenty-live years before the revolution, and 
for fourteen years after the war he was a magistrate in Massachusetts. 
In Shay's rebellion he was an active and influential Government man, 
and upon that agitation he was elected a member of the General 
Court. He was a member of the Albany Committee of Safety in 1774, 
and he, together with Robert Yates and Peter Silvester, was by that body 
appointed a delegate to the first Continental Congress. He ceased to 
act with the revolutionary committees in 1775, under the conviction 
that there was a settled determination to secure independence and a 
permanent separation from the mother country at all events ; or, as he 
quaintly expressed it in a letter to one of his brothers — " people have 
got to that pass that they do not consider the qualifications of a king, for 
that they will have no king." 

A few years ago this old Van Schaack architectural landmark was 
necessarily torn down, it being then in too dangerous a position for 
habitation, in consequence of landslides, ocasioned by the subterraneous 
collection of water operating upon quicksand, and which in the process 
of time left the old house standing upon the brink of a precipice. 

But it is the design of this paper more especially to notice a stately 
centennial mansion, situated on another part of the old Van Schaack 
estate, whose history is not without revolutionary, as well as other espe- 
cial interest in itself, and in its historic and biographic associations. 
This edifice was erected in 1774 by David Van Schaack, one of the four 
brothers before named, for his own use, and designed by himself. It 
fronts on the pleasantest street in the village, and its imposing exterior, 
beautiful shade trees, and extensive lawn render it one of the finest sit- 
uations in the town. It is a substantially built brick structure, with a 
strong stone foundation, two stories high, and with broad halls running 
through the center, above and below, having spacious rooms with high 



4 AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 

ceilings on each side in both stories. The timbers used in its construc- 
tion are rendered a great curiosity by their immense size. In accord- 
ance with the old Dutch style of building, there are broad seats in each 
window, the depth of which sufficiently indicates the strength of the 
outer walls. The doors are massive, with an immense silver knocker on 
the front one, large enough to arouse a neighborhood. The roof is 
ornamented by ballustrades. An outside view of the mansion at this 
day presents an air of stately grandeur and freshness, without any indi- 
cation of its being an old edifice, and it surprises persons to be told 
that it was built previous to the revolution. The walls of the lower 
hall were originally covered with landscape papering brought from 
England, representing a hunting scene. The ballustrade of the staircase 
leading from the lower to the upper hall is large, and consists of solid 
mahogany, rendered by age as black as the darkest ebony. 

In one of the upper rooms is still preserved an old fashioned fire- 
place, the jambs of which are ornamented with quaint Dutch tiles, 
which are a great curiosity. Each tile is about five inches square, and 
the number of them is fifty-four. On each tile is a pictorial illustration, 
in blue and white, of some scriptural scene, among which are the fol- 
lowing subjects : Elijah going up in the chariot of fire, David killing 
the lion, Peter, and the cock crowing, Christ healing the blind, the crip- 
ple carrying his bed, Cain and Abel, Elijah fed by ravens, Mary washing 
the Saviour's feet, Christ washing Peter's feet, the good Samaritan, 
Tobias led by an angel, temptation of Adam and Eve, Sampson pull- 
ing down the pillars of the temple, Moses with the two tables of stone, 
the prodigal son feeding with swine, Christ and the barren fig tree, John 
baptizing Jesus, Dives and Lazarus at table, Christ rising from the 
tomb, Christ raising Lazarus, Joseph taking Jesus from the cross, death 
of the false prophet, Jonah cast up by the whale, the flight into Egypt, 
the prodigal's return. The other fireplaces in this house were origin- 
ally ornamented with similar tiles, and Longfellow could not only 
poetically, but truthfully say of them — 

" Each hospitable chimney smiles 
A welcome from its painted tiles." 

Among those other tiles there no doubt was that one in the se- 
ries which represents a wise man pulling a beam, in the shape 
of a large stick of timber, from his own eye before proceeding to 
remove the mote from the eye of his brother. The back of 
the fireplace in the dining room consisted of an iron slab, orna- 



AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 5 

mented by a circle of stars, and with the time of its casting in Hol- 
land (1789) in figures in the center. Ornamented iron chimney 
backs were not uncommon in this country at that period. In my 
father's house, erected in 1789, and standing next to this mansion, the 
back of the parlor fireplace was ornamented by the figures of two plump 
cherub boys stretched out in opposite directions, and reclining in 
graceful posture with their heads toward each other, the right arm of 
the one and the left arm of the other encircling each other's necks, and 
their bright laughing faces turned to the front. It was really a pretty 
sight, and a relief to the eyes when looking into the fire, to see those round- 
favored cherubs with the smile on their countenaces, while they were left 
entirely unharmed by the flames rising from the wood fire briskly 
burning before them. 

This mansion, when first built, was elegantly set out with furniture 
imported from England, including the finest Wilton carpets ready fitted 
for the rooms by the manufacturer. Some of its large, old-fashioned 
mahogany chairs, and beautiful specimens of old China-ware, including 
two large syllabub bowls, with other rare articles of this description, are 
still preserved by the Sylvester family, who are connections of the 
original proprietor, and inheritors of many of his choice possessions. 

Mr. David Van Schaack, the owner of this establishment, was an 
active, intelligent and courteous gentleman, uniformly well dressed in 
the costume of his day, and wearing ruffles at the breast and wrists finely 
plaited by female hands. His liberality and goodness of heart were illus- 
trated by the voluntary liberation of all his slaves, some of whom after- 
wards returned to their old home to die, and were kindly cared for. 
Mrs. Van Schaack, whose name before her marriage was Catharine 
Van Valkenburgh, was an amiable, highly intelligent, and well-educated 
lady, and a model housekeeper. She always attracted great attention 
on account of her marked beauty, which is reliably represented to have 
been so exquisite that, on her visits to the city of New York, where 
great attention was always paid to her, persons meeting her in the 
streets would be so touched with admiration as to stop and look at 
her. For admiration and homage thus rendered, perhaps somewhat 
rudely, to a great beauty, pardon may be generously granted ; for 
we have authentic evidence that even the uniformly polite and good 
General Washington could not resist the temptation of stopping in the 
streets of Kingston, during the Revolutionary war, to admire the beau- 
tiful wife of Tommy Van Gaasbeck. " Washington, struck by her 
beauty, paused to contemplate her, and spoke of her afterwards with 
admiration." 



6 AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 

The married life of Mr. and Mrs. David Van Schaack was peculiarly 
happy : so much so indeed, that the husband is known to have said, " if 
every brick in that house could speak, it would fail to express the hap- 
piness I experienced in her society." Her portrait is still preserved in 
Kinderhook among other ancestral relics, and is now suspended in the 
mansion of Miss Margaret Silvester, whose mother was that adopted 
daughter, of Mr. and Mrs. David Van Schaack, alluded to in an interest- 
ing letter of Mrs. Quincy hereinafter referred to. In the mansion last 
mentioned are also still preserved portraits, probably more than one 
hundred and fifty years old, of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Cruger. They were 
the parents of Henry Cruger, member of Parliament, and of his sister 
Elizabeth, who was the first wife of Peter Van Schaack and the grand- 
parents of that Henry C. Van Schaack who became Mrs. Silvester's first 
husband ; her second husband was Francis Silvester, she having been 
married to two of her cousins. 

On the private marriage of Peter Van Schaack to Miss Cruger while 
they wei-e both quite young, he being only twenty and then in college, 
the lady's father, in his rage, threw his wig into the fire. The substan- 
tial worth of the son-in-law however, was such, that a lasting reconcilia- 
tion shortly afterwards took place, and the evidences are abundant that 
no one of the good father-in-law's numerous descendants or friends 
enjoyed a larger share of his regard and confidence throughout his sub- 
sequent life than did Peter Van Schaack. 

On his return from his exile in England in 1785, Peter Van Schaack, 
who was then a widower, made his home for a time in his brother 
David's family in this then new mansion ; and he at once became " the 
observed of all observers." His safe return to his native covmtry and 
home after an absence of nearly seven years, and under circumstances 
of peculiar interest, was the occasion for great rejoicing, not only among 
his connections, but to a host of other friends. It is thus referred to in a 
letter written at the time to Henry Van Schaack by Mr. John C. Wyn- 
koop, a young lawyer who had married a niece of Mr. Van Schaack 
during the latter's absence from the country : " The happiness we all 
experienced on the arrival of Uncle Peter is much easier imagined than 
described. There is a certain something in his deportment, looks and 
conversation which, in my humble opinion, speaks an uncommon man." 

Peter Van Schaack's society was now eagerly sought, and for abund- 
ant reasons besides those of his high character for intelligence and 
personal worth, and those other fine qualities which rendered him "an 
uncommon man." He had spent nearly seven years in England during 



AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION / 

a momentous crisis in her history, and one replete with a peculiar 
interest to every American. He had there enjoyed rare opportunities 
for becoming- acquainted with the public men of England, with her 
public institutions, and with her public measures. His brother-in-law, 
Henry Cruger, Jr., was for several years a member of Parliament, and, 
as co-representative for Bristol, the colleague of Edmund Burke in the 
House of Commons. His father-in-law, then residing in England, was a 
friend of Sir WilHam Meredith, who was in intimate intercourse with 
Lord North. 

With these and many other significant opportunities for acquiring in- 
formation afforded to an intelligent and inquisitive American, whom Chan- 
cellor Kent describes as " the model of a lawyer, of a scholar, and of a gen- 
tleman," it is not strange that Peter Van Schaack, on his return from what 
was still regarded as the " mother country," or as it had before been called 
" home," became the center of a marked interest. The mere circum- 
stance that he had seen so many different characters distinguished in 
literature, in the arts and sciences, in politics, in statesmanship, in the 
church and in the law, with some of whom he had a personal acquaint- 
ance, and respecting many of whom he could relate interesting anec- 
dotes, was sufficient to attract attention. He had often witnessed the 
performances of the charming Mrs. Siddons upon the stage, and he had 
enjoyed the society of Hannah More. He had been professionally 
associated with Mr. Scott, afterwards the great Lord Eldon ; and to 
his ears the " honied accents " of the eloquent Murray, then Lord Mans- 
field, were familiar. He had attended the Rotation office in Bow street 
when the venerable Sir John Fielding presided there, notable as the 
most famous judge in all history for his acuteness in the detection of 
villainy, although stone blind from his birth. Mr. Van Schaack had 
heard all the distinguished speakers in Parliament, and in the courts of 
Westminster Hall. He witnessed the early efforts of Erskine in the 
forum, and of Sheridan and Pitt in the senate. He enjoyed the rare 
privilege of hearing speeches by Fox and Pitt on the same day, and he 
had arraigned Fox, when ex-minister, in the newspapers for his political 
inconsistencies. He had dmed at the same table with Burke at the 
Assizes, and had often heard that great statesman speak in Parliament. 
The pure-minded Lindley Murray, the grammarian, then in England, was 
from early life his bosom friend ; Mr. Van Schaack had often visited the 
studios of Benjamin West and Sir Joshua Reynolds ; and he had been 
in the company of the " literary colossus," Samuel Johnson. He was in 
London during Lord George Gordon's riots, and through those 



8 \ AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 

numerous and rapid changes of the Ministry which marked an era. He 
witnessed the downfall of one set of Cabinet Ministers for their hostility 
to America ; the abrupt secession of another ; the dissolution of a third ; 
the grand coalition which formed the fourth, itself soon after dismissed 
by royal interposition, making shipwreck of the political reputations of 
some of the greatest statesmen in the empire ; and he had participated, 
by his pen, in the interesting discussions to which these extraordinary 
political revolutions gave rise. 

Such was an animating and abounding chapter in the history of one 
who was content to pass the last forty-seven years of his life, the greater 
part of it in retired usefulness, in the little village of Kinderhook, which 
was the place of his death as well as of his birth. Mr. Van Schaack died 
in September, 1832, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. The late Benja- 
min F. Butler was at Kinderhook at the time, and there wrote an 
appreciative obituary notice which contains this passage: " Nature had 
conferred upon Peter Van Schaack a form and countenance correspond- 
ing in strength and dignity with the measure of his intellect. Even after 
death his features retained the noble impress of his superior endowments 
and might almost have been taken for some marble monument of 
ancient genius, to which they bore a peculiar and interesting resem- 
blance." 

In March, 1786, the proprietor of our centennial mansion, in writing 
to his brother Henry, then a resident of Pittsfield, gave this favorable 
account of country life in Kinderhook and its vicinity at that period, 
which is peculiarly interesting from the circumstance that it was so soon 
after the civil war. " Our country gentlemen," wrote Mr. Van Schaack, 
" live now in a true country style. Our houses and stables are all open to 
each other, and a most friendly disposition prevails all over the country." 

In the summer of 1786, Madam D wight, of Stockbridge, widow of 
Brigadier-General Dwight, and a lady of mark in her day, was the guest 
of Mr, David Van Schaack's family. She had been spending some time 
in the city of New York, and was then returning to her home by the 
route, usual at that time during the season of navigation, of Hudson 
River to Kinderhook landing, and thence overland through Kinderhook 
village to Stockbridge. On this visit to Kinderhook, Madam Dwight 
w^as accompanied by Miss Morton, a daughter of Mr. John Morton, of 
New York city, " a lady very young but full of spirit," and even then 
showing the acute observation and fine memory for which she was 
noted in after life. This young lady afterwards became the wife of 
President Quincy, of Harvard University. During a call made upon 



AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 9 

Mrs. Quincy many years previous to her death, she informed me of her 
visit to Kinderhook, and of the deep impression it had made upon her 
mind. She afterwards very complaisantly acceded to my request for a 
copy of an account of that visit, of which she had made a note in a paper 
perpared by her in regard to her " early days." A few extracts from her 
interesting response to my request are here given : 

" It may give you some gratification to read a passage from the 
manuscript relative to my voyage up the Hudson in 1786. We em- 
barked in a sloop in which Madam Dwight and myself were the only 
passengers. The vessel itself, the noble river, and above all the 
* highlands,' filled me with wonder and delight. The captain had a 
legend for every scene ; and not a mountain reared its head unconnected 
with some marvellous story. One of the men pkyed on the flute and woke 
the gentle echos, while the captain fired off guns to make the mountains 
reverberate a more tremendous sound. All this was enchanting to me. 
In the course of a zi'cek we arrived at Kinderhook. There we staid 
at the house of Mr. David Van Schaack, in the town of Kinderhook, 
several miles from the landing. This was a house of good old-fashioned 
hospitality. The mansion was large, and the furniture and domestic 
establishment marked the wealth of the proprietor, and was superior to 
those usually met with at that period. There were three brothers, 
David, Henry and Peter Van Schaack.* The two first had no children, 
and had adopted those of their sisters. In this respect, and in their 
general style of living, the family resembled the description since given 
of the ' Schuyler family ' by Mrs. Grant. I can also witness to the 
truth of her account of the treatment of the domestic slaves in their 
families. The older men and women among them were on the most 
familiar terms with their masters and mistresses, and exercised consider- 
able influence over the young people of the family, especially the old 
women. Still they were very respectful to their superiors, and much 
attached to their master and his family. We were received by this 
eminent and excellent family with the greatest kindness ; and I thmk 
we staid with them several days, until a wagon came down from 
Stockbridge for us. I have always retained a lively remembrance of 
the hospitality we received. I also perfectly recollect a young lady, a 
niece, one of the adopted. Her name was, I believe, Lydia Van Vleck. 
I visited Stockbridge again in 1792, but did not pass through Kinder- 
hook. During this visit I became acquainted Mr. Henry Van Schaack, 
of Pittsfield, at Mr. Sedgwick's, and visited his family at his residence. 
I still cherish the remembrance of Mr. and Mrs. Van Schaack's hospita- 



lO AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 

ble reception of me. A striking feature of their mansion was the 
exquisite neatness of the house and everything about it. I had never 
seen the floors of entries, stairs, kitchen, etc., painted; and although 
brought up among the natives of Holland, who are proverbial for their 
neatness, this seemed to me ' a stroke beyond the reach of (their) art.' 
Mrs. Van Schaack appeared to me to be a very kind, matronly and dig- 
nified lady. Miss Van Vleck I soon found to be the sister of my first 
friend in Kinderhook; and these instances suggested the comparison I 
afterwards made to the same mode of adoption in the Schuyler family, 
as described by Mrs. Grant. You mention the review of Mrs. Grant's let- 
ters in the North American with interest and approbation. It is a singular 
circumstance that the review was written at my instance. I am glad that 
you are pleased with it. I presume that you have read ' The American 
Lady,' by Mrs. Grant ; in which she gives, as far as my observation and ex- 
perience have gone, in New York, Albany and Kinderhook, very correct 
accounts of the state of manners, etc., at that period. It brought to my 
recollection, as I have already said, similar scenes in your uncle's 
family." 

Many great men and interesting characters have, at various times 
during the last century, been entertained in this old Kinderhook man- 
sion ; and these facts now impart to it great historic interest. Their 
presence within these old walls recalls to mind many incidents connected 
with their respective histories, and in some instances challenges the most 
sacred memories. 

General Richard Montgomery, on his way to take command of the army 
against Canada, called on his friends, the Van Schaacks, at Kinderhook, 
and stopped in this house, which is thus most interestingly associated 
with one of the early martyrs of the Revolutionary war, whose 
name may fitly be placed side by side with that of General Warren, of 
Bunker Hill. On this occasion, as if anticipating the sad fate which 
awaited him, Montgomery gave to his early personal and military 
friend, Henry Van Schaack, several tokens of remembrance, one of 
which was his shaving-box, now in possession of Peter H. Silvester, of 
Coxsackie, a grand nephew of Mr. Peter Van Schaack; another token 
is a highly ornamented morocco pouch or case for the preservation of 
manuscript papers, now owned by Henry C. Van Schaack, of Manlius, 
a full nephew of Henry Van Schaack. The intimacy between Mont- 
gomery and Henry Van Schaack was great. They had both been 
officers in the war of 1755, Montgomery as captain in the Seventeenth 
Regiment, and Mr. Van Schaack, at different times, lieutenant, pay- 



AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION II 

master and commissary. Among other autographs of Montgomery 
still preserved, is a business letter written by him to his friend Peter 
Van Schaack, in which, near its close, he thus playfully refers to his 
recent marriage to Miss Livingston : " Have you not some curiosity to 
know how the character of a Benedict sits upon me?" The letter 
closes with the " love of Mrs. Montgomery to Mrs. Van Schaack," and 
with an assurance of the writer's " esteem " for his correspondent. 
But, alas ! how brief was the period of matrimonial felicity here 
referred to, and how suddenly disastrous and overwhelming are often 
the fortunes and reverses of war ! Peter Van Schaack thus wrote from 
Kinderhook, to his father-in-law in England, in regard to the series of 
well-directed military movements in 1775, whereby the Americans be- 
came masters of the greater part of Canada. " The achievment of these 
laurels," wrote Mr. Van Schaack, " must principally be imputed to 
General Montgomery, who may now sit down in peace for the winter, 
and sheath his sword for lack of argument." Too soon, however, was 
the same writer obliged to present this sadly changed picture before his 
kinsman. " A wonderful reverse of fortune," wrote Mr. Van Schaack 
to Mr. Cruger, "has taken place in Canada in consequence of an ill- 
fated attack upon Quebec, in which General Montgomery fell, and 
most of his principal officers were killed, wounded and taken prisoners." 
Among the cherished relics which once graced this historic mansion 
and which are still preserved, is an old-fashioned sofa on which Captain 
Montgomery had often reclined. Could that interesting relic now 
speak, how fully it would bear witness to the intelligent conversations of 
its pure-minded and patriotic occupant. 

In October, 1777, the doors of this mansion were darkened by a revolu- 
tionary character of a very different stamp from the one last referred to. 
This was General Burgoyne, then on his march through the State, not 
as a conquering hero, but as a prisoner of war. It was provided by the 
Saratoga articles of capitulation, that " the army of Lieutenant-General 
Burgoyne should march to the Massachusetts Bay by the easiest, most 
expeditious and most direct route." This route from Albany, at that 
day, was through Kinderhook. A letter was preserved for many years 
in our centennial mansion, written by Jacob Cuyler, deputy Quarter 
master-General, dated at Albany, i8th October, 1777, and directed to 
Major Hoes, at Kinderhook, in which the writer says : " This moment I 
have received directions from General Gates to supply the prisoners 
and those who will guard them, to the amount of six thousand. They 
will be at Kinderhook by Monday night. You will immediately order 



12 AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 

a man to remain on the road and order fifty head of cattle to come to 
you out of the first drove he meets to supply them. Captain Spencer 
will bring fifty more by Monday night. They will want about four 
hundred barrels of flour to be issued to support them on the road." 
The captured army remained on the plains at Kinderhook for several 
days. The soldiers paid the farmers high prices for the poultry and 
other things they bought of them, but after they were gone, the poor 
farmers found that the coin they paid was false, being copper coated 
with silver. General Burgoyne and his principal officers, who had 
been so liberally entertained by General Schuyler in Albany, on their 
arrival at Kinderhook, dined in this mansion ; but they probably did 
not have before them the numerous "covers" mentioned by General 
Burgoyne, in his speech in Parliament, as having graced General 
Schuyler's table. An amusing incident, however, occurred at the 
Kinderhook dinner. After the removal of the cloth wine was intro- 
duced. In the course of entertainment, a glass of wine was put into the 
hands of a little girl present (an adopted daughter of the gentleman of 
the house), and she was asked to give a toast. She archly said : " God 
save the King and all the royal family." Tradition has it that the 
family of the host were much annoyed by this little incident, fearing 
that their loyalty would be suspected by the American escort ; 
and yet it is not conceived why good Christians may not ask God 
to save a king and his family as well as their other enemies for 
whom they are taught to pray. And so this matter seems to have 
been understood by some, at least, of our military commanders, as is 
illustrated by this other well-authenticated Burgoyne-Gates anecdote 
On the surrender, " the English and German generals dined with the 
American commander in his tent, on boards laid across barrels. On 
this occasion. General Burgoyne proposed a toast to General Washing- 
ton ; an attention that Gates returned by drinking the health of the 
King of England. 

The news of Burgoyne's surrender was brought to Kinderhook by 
Colonel Henry Van Rensselaer, on his way from Saratoga to his resi- 
dence in Claverack, and its truth confirmed by the particulars given — 
that he had dined with the captive general in General Gates' marquee. 
When the rumor of this great event was mentioned to Peter Van 
Schaack, he remarked with emphasis: " If this be true, I pronounce you 
an independent nation." 

As Generals Burgoyne and Phillips, after leaving Kinderhook, were 
riding on horseback through Klinekill, a sturdy woman called out and 



AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 1 3 

enquired : " Which of the gentlemen is Mr. General Burgoyne ? " The 
General, raising his chapcau-bras, and gracefully bowing, proceeded on 
his way ; while the (perhaps) Tory lady by the road side made a polite 
curtesy and retired to her dwelling. 

Not long after the passage of Burgoyne, Benedict Arnold was con- 
veyed through Kinderhook on his way from Saratoga to Connecticut. 
One of the side posts of the door-way, in the house at which he stopped, 
was cut out to make room for the litter on which the wounded officer, 
then in the zenith of his reputation, was borne. 

The distinguished characters whose presence graced our centennial 
mansion at an early day are too numerous to be named. Among them 
were John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Egbert Benson, Philip Schuyler, 
Theodore Sedgwick and Chancellor Kent. 

Henry Cruger Van Schaack, before referred to, died in this house in 
1797, leaving it to his wife and child. It was afterwards leased to the 
Honorable Cornelius P. Van Ness. This gentleman subsequently 
became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Vermont, Governor of 
that State, Collector of the Port of New York, and Minister to Spain. 
He was the father of Mrs. Judge James I. Roosevelt. His brother, John 
P. Van Ness, was a member of Congress, Mayor of Washington, and by 
a fortunate marriage with the heiress of Washington, became the owner 
of more than half of the site of that city. Still another brother, William 
P. Van Ness, was for many years a Judge of the district for the South- 
ern District of New York. He studied law with Aaron Burr, was 
his second in the famous duel with Hamilton, and the author of 
" Publico." All of these last named were sons of Peter Van Ness, 
a man of mark in his day, an officer in the old French war, a member of 
the State convention that ratified the Federal Constitution, a member of 
our State Senate, and first Judge of Columbia County. The "P" was 
introduced 1 <"0 the names of these three sons in pursuance of Dutch 
nomenclature, and to show they were sons of that Van Ness whose first 
name was Peter. 

The surname of this family, as Washington Irving has gravely told 
us, had its origin from the fact that their ancestors were " valiant 
robbers of birds' nests." However true that may be, the numerous 
offices held by so many different members of this old Dutch family 
sufficiently show that they lost no opportunity of " feathering their 
own nests." 

Our old mansion was next sold to a gentleman who, in one of 
his merry moods, threw a billet of wood at the devoted heads of 



14 AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 

two persons, then living with him. Happily his aim was too elevated, 
and the stick struck the lintel of the dining-room door, where the tell- 
tale scar still lingers. This plethoric old gentleman died in 1813 ; and 
tradition informs us that his uneasy ghost now haunts the sideboard, 
making night hideous by the clattering of the glasses when they are 
not well filled. This same person bequeathed to his friends, the 
colored gentry, a lot for burial, on condition that they would never part 
with the sacred gift. As this lot lies in the heart of the estate, it was 
doubtless an act of disinterested generosity, which nevertheless some- 
times tempts " the poor white folks " to execrate his memory, while the 
colored brethren continue to show their gratitude by interring three deep. 
Under the will of this owner the property was sold at auction, and 
Doctor John P. Beekman became the purchaser, and took up his abode 
in it in 1 8 14. He married for his first wife Catharine Van Schaack, the 
only child of Mrs. Francis Silvester by her first husband. Doctor 
Beekman renovated the house in 1846, and greatly improved it by the 
addition of two wings, constructed in the same substantial and imposing 
style of architecture as the original building. After ex-President 
Van Buren had closed his public career, and removed from Wash- 
ington to spend the rest of his life in his native town, his seat at 
Lindenwald became famous as a resort of the great men of the 
land, and of other characters more or less conspicuous. Mr. Van 
Buren was very often the guest of Doctor Beekman, and it was a 
common circumstance for him to introduce some of his own distin- 
guished visitors into our centennial mansion, which is only three miles 
distant from Lindenwald. Among the visitors thus introduced were 
Henry Clay, Washington Irving, John L. Stephens, Thomas H. Benton, 
David Wilmot, Charles Sumner, Silas Wright, General Beltrand, 
Auguste Devezac, Commodore Nicholson, Frank Blair, William L. 
Marcy, John Forsyth, Azariah C. Flagg, and many others whose names 
are not recollected. The present Earl of Carlyle, who spent several 
days at Lindenwald, when travelling incogriito in this country as Lord 
Morpeth, was at that time entertained in this mansion also. 

On Henry Clay's visit to Kinderhook the year previous to his death, 
he dined in the same room in which the captive British General had 
been entertained three quarters of a century before, and he expressed 
great interest in that circumstance, and was not a little amused by the 
anecdote before related about the little girl toasting the King and all 
the royal family. That little girl, who was the life of our centennial 
mansion in her early days, was still living at Kinderhook at the time of 



AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 1 5 

Mr. Clay's visit, but she had then become a highly intelligent and most 
interesting old-school lady, adding to great sweetness of disposition a 
refined taste, gentle and most pleasing manners, and a remarkable mem- 
ory, to which I have been indebted for many of the incidents detailed 
in this paper. Mr. Clay paid his respects to this venerable lady by call- 
ing upon her at her residence, under the escort of ex-President Van 
Buren. It was an interesting interview. Mrs. Silvester survived Mr. 
Clay five years. She died in Kinderhook, in the full faith of a ripe 
Christian, in 1857, in the eighty -fourth year of her age. As was 
to be expected, a public reception was given to Mr. Clay at 
the village hotel, where a large number of citizens were introduced 
to him. A young lady made her appearance to be introduced to the 
great statesman ; unfortunately, the gentleman to whom was assigned 
the duty of making the introductions on this occasion, and who was 
every way competent to the task, had forgotton the lady's name, and 
betrayed his embarrassment. Mr. Clay, with his usual tact, happily 
relieved the gentleman from his dilemma by saying to the introducer, 
"Mr. Beekman, never mind the lady's name now, she will soon change 
it." 

Thomas H. Benton, on his visit to Kinderhook, delivered an address 
in the Dutch church, but in the English language ; " Old Bullion," with 
all his skill as a linguist, and his capabilities as a great writer and public 
speaker, not being able to address the Kinderhookers in their Dutch 
vernacular, his " Thirty years in the Senate " did not avail him. 

The honorable David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, the great Congress- 
man, was a large man, filling, comparatively speaking, as large a space 
in the visible as he did in the political world. Mr. Wilmot was escorted 
from Lindenwald to Dr. Beekman's residence by Mr. John Van Buren, 
who united to great ability and shrewdness as a lawyer the wit of a 
wag. Mr. Van Buren, with big Mr. Wilmot standing by his side, thus 
introduced that gentleman to the lady of the house : " Mrs. Beekman," 
said Mr. Van Buren, "you have heard of the Wilmot Proviso? Here 
he is in a body." 

Doctor Abraham Clark, formerly of New Jersey, the father-in-law of 
Doctor Beekman, spent the last twenty-five years of his life in the lat- 
ter's family, and died in our centennial mansion in 1854, in the eighty- 
eighth year of his age. Mrs. Clark died here two years afterwards, 
aged ninety-two. Dr. Clark's father was a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence. Doctor Beekman died in this house in 1862. Thomas 
Beekman, brother of the Doctor, whose wife was a daughter of Doctor 



^\.' l«>J3 



l6 AN OLD KINDERHOOK MANSION 

Van Schaack, became its owner in 1864. He was at that time a widower, 
spending his winters in New York with his niece, Mrs. A. J. Vander- 
poel, and only using it as a summer residence. Mr. Beekman served 
one term in Congress, 1829 and 1830. He was a gentleman of cultivated 
intellect, refined taste, and extensive reading. Many of the incidents 
recorded in this history were taken from his lips. He died in 1870, in 
the eightieth year of his age. Since that time the old house has been 
the summer residence of Aaron J. Vanderpoel, whose wife is a grand- 
niece of David Van Schaack, its original proprietor, and a grand-daugh- 
ter of Peter Van Schaack, LL. D. 

HENRY C. VAN SCHAACK 



* A fourth brother was Cornelius, the father of the mother of James I. Roosevelt. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 109 301 ^ i 



